


Big Things and Small Beginnings

by xAndurielx



Series: They grow up so fast [1]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21662128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xAndurielx/pseuds/xAndurielx
Summary: Judy Hopps wasn't always a super awesome bunny cop, she had her humble beginnings just like anyone else. After a rather eventful birthday sets a few things in motion for her future, a few aspects of Judy's pedigree are brought to light...who knew her parents were such badasses in their youth?
Relationships: Bonnie Hopps/Stu Hopps, Inari and Karma, Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde
Series: They grow up so fast [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582648
Comments: 14
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first few chapters of a larger story. I actually started writing this as two separate stories entirely but then realized one actually set up the other fairly well in my opinion. I wrote this in varying degrees of inspiration and sobriety so if there are any continuity issues or general questions feel free to ask me. I try to leave enough to the reader's imagination that things aren't over explained so if something doesn't make sense tell me and I will either try to explain or fix it.

Judy could only roll her eyes as her litter-mates chattered and giggled amongst themselves...it was their sixth birthday party and as per warren tradition the birthday litter got to stay up as long as they wanted and was allowed to commandeer one of the larger entertainment rooms. Groups of little bunnies were scattered around the room, some playing video games on large flat-screen tvs, others playing various board games...but not Judy. 

Judy was sitting in her favorite bean-bag chair, in her new footie pajamas with one of her favorite books, Sheerluck Homes and the case of the Vanishing Vase. She just loved how the main character could make such wild and yet ultimately accurate conclusions from such small clues and seemingly random or unrelated coincidences ...the fact he was a mouse and was putting bad guys the size of bears in jail just made it all the better for the little bunny. Fantasies and daydreams of working alongside the great detective as a police chief and making the world a better place flittered and danced through her head as she read the story, sometimes overriding what she was actually reading until she couldn’t tell if she had just read that the brave bunny cop had taken down the elephant crime boss or if she had simply imagined that she did.

  
It was just about at her favorite point in the book, when Homes was beginning his explanation of how all the tiny clues, some of which still eluded Judy even many times after reading the book, all connected and pointed at the culprit when she heard one of her least favorite litter sisters voice nearby.

“HA! Judy wouldn’t know how to have a fun birthday unless someone gave her a book on it and had her crush of a fake mouse detective read it out loud to her.” Jasmine...the pretty, prissy, perfect little farm princess...it was like she had a roadmap and tour guide to get under Judy’s fur. “She could never get into mom’s secret bookcase in the first place let alone read any of the books, none of them involve mammals doing things they can’t, like mice becoming detectives, rabbits becoming police officers or foxes being honest mammals so she wouldn’t even be interested in them in the first place.” Oh how Judy wished she could ignore that snide nasally voice...how she wished by Serendipity’s fluffy tail that she could block out the mental image of her sister’s blue eyes glinting with victory and the twist to her lips at realizing she had, again, successfully pissed Judy off. With all the fury and righteousness that could be contained in her little six year old body Judy slammed her book shut and turned around to face her sister. 

“I do too know how to have a good birthday, in fact I was having one until you started talking Jasmine. And for your information I do in fact know how to get into mom’s bookcase, but all the books are boring and most can’t even be read because they are in made up languages.” Feeling like she had made her point and gotten the upper hand on her snobby sister Judy began to turn away from the aforementioned rabbit and her little squad of hangers on...until she heard the words that would always spur her to action, even when she knew it was a bad idea.

“Prove it” Oh she would prove it all right...she would prove prove her hardcover book all over that little so and so’s face...she didn’t have anything to prove to little Ms. Born Ten Seconds Before You.

“Fine, I’ll prove it and make you eat those words as well as a full helping of Caleb’s cooking!” Ok so the phrase ‘Pride cometh before the Fall’ wouldn’t actually be spoken to her until a few years later but when it was she would look back on this moment and think…”worth it”. 

Caleb Hopp’s cooking was legendary in the Hopps warren...as some of the worst possible food to ever curse a stove top. Tales were told to younger sibling of lemon cupcakes that went bad before they were even baked, pancakes that refused to be eaten, salads made just moments earlier that somehow were wilted beyond belief...the lad couldn’t even boil water without it exploding somehow, the fact he had no idea how bad his cooking was and couldn’t coordinate spices or ingredients often lead to concoctions like kale salad with mango chutney and sticky rice dressing, or blueberry pie with spinach based pie crust and sour cream swirls...culinary abominations that Judy fully planned on making her sister eat in front of their entire litter.

Grinning like the cat who got the cream Jasmine simply motioned for Judy to proceed with putting her money where her mouth was. Turning her nose up Judy tucked her book under her arm and marched off in the direction of their mom’s secret bookcase. Leaving the entertainment room Judy was momentarily shocked at how quiet it was, the entire warren was asleep it was so late in the night. Steeling herself and making sure she was being followed Judy continued her march down the hall to one of the smaller and older libraries that could be found in the warren. It wasn’t designated as their parents personal library but every generation knew it belonged solely to their parents.

Entering the library Judy took a deep breath and savored the smell of the room. Wood polish on cedar furniture, oak shelves older than the entire Hopps clan, gentle cigar smoke from ages past, notes of cognac swirling from the large overstuffed wing back chairs, cocoa and brandy sipped on cold nights and sweet tea drunk while lounging in mid-summer sun beams coming in from circular skylights, soft and thick carpet covered every inch of floor and felt beyond amazing as it ran gently between Judy little toes...and  _ books _ , hundreds of books aligned like ranks soldiers upon their shelves just waiting for marching orders...the musty, ink and glue and paper and  _ other  _ smell of books permeating everything, lording over the other scents like a benevolent ruler allowing lesser beings to live within its lands.

Judy felt a strange tugging at her chest, like she was homesick or had lost something and could never get it back, but that couldn’t be right seeing as how she was in her home and she didn’t have anything that would cause such a reaction at being lost in the first place. Stepping further into the somewhat dark room Judy looked back and felt a small amount of smugness at the amazed and slightly fearful looks to be found on the following bunnies faces, this was not a room to be entered lightly without invitation after all.

Striding purposefully further into the room and winding her way through the shelves of books Judy couldn’t help but look around at her surroundings, journals from family members long past into memory were standing guard over this room next to paw written cookbooks. Almanacs were shelved alongside books of fanciful stories with gold edged pages, those were her favorite ones to read whenever she was able to. Finally coming to a halt in front of a bookshelf that looked like it mostly contained cookbooks, knitting and crafting guides and a few romance novels Judy looked back at her impromptu entourage. Seeing Jasmine make a visible effort to not be impressed by the surroundings allowed Judy to ignore the snide look sent her way as she turned back to the somewhat imposing bookshelf...had it gotten taller? 

Taking a deep breath and concentrating for a minute Judy cast backwards into her memory for the time when she saw her mom do the funny paw motions and say the slippery words. With a small stutter but gaining confidence Judy began to move her little paws in approximately the same way her momma did and she might not have pronounced the words correctly but they still felt like warm honey and slime sliding through her ears. 

At first Judy thought the sound she heard was a snake that had somehow gotten into the warren with the intent to gobble up little bunnies that weren’t supposed to be in places like this...but then it got slightly louder and more distinct and she realized, once she opened eyes she had no memory of closing, the entire front of the bookshelf and books was dissolving. Small grains of what could have passed for sand were falling off the wood and away from the books, warm and old wood became hard black marble shot through with what looked like veins of gold. Titles written in modern ink and letters soon fell apart to reveal new titles of embossed silver and brass in languages the small group of bunnies would never have heard of if they could even begin to understand the funny squiggles.It was less than two minutes later the once old oak shelf and modern printed books was replaced with marble and paw written tomes that looked older than their entire clan.

“So you can wave your paws around and speak a bunch of gibberish, that doesn’t you can read any of those books.” If there was one thing her sister would never be known for it was being able to accept she was beaten or knowing when she was defeated...in fact that might be one of the only traits Judy shared with her most irritating sister.


	2. Chapter 2

Judy knew it was a bad idea to do this...but she really wanted to see the look on Jasmine's face when she was proven wrong. That was probably not the best train of thought to be riding while standing in the bathroom surrounded by candles and a few litter mates but if she was gonna do this then she was gonna sound that horn and ride it to whatever station it stopped at. 

As she stood there on the counter Judy’s head was filled with thoughts of the future, specifically a future of her wearing a police uniform and calling up spirit helpers to stop bad guys. Fantasies of casting spells and riding around on a broomstick with little blue and red flashing lights on it zipped through her mind as she drew the funny squiggles on the mirror in lipstick...she was pretty sure their older sister wouldn’t miss it. 

_ A red ear flicks as some of the most pure thoughts and fantasies catch the beings’ attention…’heh cute kit’ the figure thought to itself with a dismissive tone. This wouldn’t be the first time some stupid younglings tried to contact him, though most of the time they messed up something important enough that he could never talk back. _

Judy looked over the book one last time to make sure everything was done right...yep everything was as it should be. Casting one last look down at her sister Jasmine, Judy was more pleased than she probably should be to see a look of uncertainty on the doe’s face. Turning away from the small group of immediate siblings that were crowded around the bathroom counter Judy looked at herself in the mirror with the light of battle in her eyes and began speaking with a voice that had no place coming from one so young and small. 

“By the powers of the fifth tower of judgment do I call to you!”  With a voice that rang like the gilded horn of an angel Judy spoke. 

“By the pacts and treaties of The Great Houses do I command you!” With every word spoken her voice fell on the air like a physical blow, mirrors rattled lightly and stall doors creaked in non existent winds. Far on the other side of the warren a certain matronly rabbit was happily cuddled up to her husband...until a feeling deep within her soul wrenched her from her sleep with a gasp.

_ ‘Huh? Well now this is interesting…’ The figure sat straighter upon its great throne of jade and ruby, perhaps just this once someone would get it right. The thoughts and hopes for the future were not only born of a pure mind but were imagined for entirely selfless reasons...this little one actually wanted to help others simply for the sake of helping...maybe just this once… _

“I call to you with the voices of the fallen choirs, heed my call and speak to me!” Had Judy looked behind her she would have seen her siblings huddled together in fear, but Judy was focused on the center of the design she had so carefully scribed upon the mirror. Power flowed through her like nothing she had ever felt,every hair stood on end and every muscle sang with energy and strength, her voice rose in a crescendo of echoing whispers. 

Bonnie hopps ran as though the servants of the Greatest Damned were upon her heels...again. In nothing but her nightgown Bonnie flew through the halls of her warren desperately trying to zero in on the source of the disturbance, it was this way, NO, down that hall..oh deities it was in the direction of one of her litters, her  _ children.  _ Spitting out a few words of power Bonnie felt her feet quicken as a great wind sprang to life at her back, she didn’t know how but something was in her home and if it threatened her kits...there was no power in the Divine Spires or the Houses of Regret that would save it from her Motherly Wrath.

“I call to you on the last sounding of the bells” 

The fae spirits of her youth would be proud of Bonnie as she, literally, flew down the halls of her home. Calling out to the echoes of her ancestors to protect her kits and give her speed Bonnie ‘Le Fey’ Hopps guiltily reveled in the flexing of powers she had long ago sworn off using in place of raising a family...now she allowed old instincts to flare back to life in the name of protecting that family.

_ ‘Yes...YES, just a little more young one, you are so close.’ The figure rose from his throne for the first time in a mountain’s memory as he felt the power coursing across the vastness of the infinitely thin space between himself and the one calling out to him.  _

“Inari Okami” 

Bonnie slid to a halt in front of the slightly ajar library door with a look of abject fear upon her face, no, she had been so careful...none of her kits had any of her power...she had checked, none of them showed aptitude or interest in her families arcane past. Making a quick decision the rabbit matron bit into her wrist with her sharp buck teeth and in the span of a few heartbeats was rocketing off towards the now distinct source of the feeling that had pulled her from her sleep, a sigil written in blood sizzling half over the door and the wall of the library and effectively locking it away from any particular reality, the only evidence she had been there.

“Inari Okami”

The candle flames surrounding Judy suddenly turned a shade of green not seen outside deep forest clearings after a spring rain. Seeing this, the handful of littermates that had come along on this stupid one-upman battle between the sisters quickly ran to the far corner of the bathroom and huddled together in hopes of seeing their next birthday.

_ “Inari Okami”  _

Judy was too enthralled by the visions she saw within the depths of the mirror to notice the way her voice echoed across distances that far exceeded the space of the warren let alone the bathroom they were in or the way the corners of the room seemed to gain too many angles and the walls extended off into directions that didn’t exist. 

_ “Inari Okami”  _

  
  


Bonnie felt tears flowing from her eyes as she closed in on the source of the disturbance. She was close enough now she could hear the clarion call of the summoning, and she could recognize the voice of one of her most wonderfully troublesome kits...her Little Tryer...her little Judy. 

  
  


_**“INARI OKAMI”** _

Bonnie threw open the door to the bathroom with desperate abandon, the flames of the candles flared like miniature suns before going out in a sudden gust of wind. The smell of violets and wood-rot permeated the bathroom and time seemed to stand still as the huddle of little bunnies in the corner stopped crying for their momma, since she was there in the doorway, and the single bunny standing atop the counter turned her lambent green gaze upon the matronly rabbit in guilty shock. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Bonnie just stood there absorbing the scene before her...the candles, the sigils upon the mirror burning like lava with power, the huddle of practically baby bunnies in the corner and there, standing surprisingly tall and strong upon the counter in front of the mirror, dressed in her little police uniform onesie was her Little Tryer Judy. 

Stepping carefully into the now graveyard silent room Bonnie carefully observed her surroundings. If not for the scent of violets in full bloom and the smell of the deep forest she would think the ritual a wonderful failure...but no...something went right this night,for good or ill, something was done correctly and that could be many times worse than if everything went wrong. Silently motioning for the small fluffle of baby bunnies in the corner to come to her Bonnie let herself relax the most miniscule amount of tension from her posture as she methodically chinned each and every one of the small rabbits, marking them with her unique family scent as she looked them over for injuries or abnormalities. 

Finally getting the small mass of kits swarming around her to calm down Bonnie looked up at the last one to worry about, the single bunny doe to not immediately rush to her side. Standing there on the counter with her paws clasped behind her back and long ears drooping down her back was her most troublesome kit...wait...she had always had her grandmothers shade of violet eyes...so why were they as green as spring grass? 

Bonnie felt her blood run ice cold as the possibilities suddenly coursed through her mind. Gently urging her newest and so far most...interesting...littler behind her Bonnie maintained eye contact with Judy. Advancing slowly towards the little bunny Bonnie readied half a dozen different types of spells, just in case things were as bad as they looked. Once she was within a couple arm lengths Bonnie finally noticed the various symbols and arcane runes drawn on the mirror behind her kit. 

Swallowing thickly Bonnie tried to get a better idea of the situation “Judy, sweetie...what did you do?...come on just tell mommy, I promise I won’t be mad but I need you to help me understand what happened.” Oh how she hoped this worked, thankfully it had the added benefit of being true, she really wouldn’t be mad...a little upset sure, fussy and worried absolutely...but overall she was admittedly impressed that a kit of only six years could apparently get to her  _ special  _ books and also understand enough of one to put it to use. 

“I-I-I just, *sniff* I just wanted to show that I could have fun like everyone else, I wanted to show Jasmine that I could read more than mystery books and was smart enough to get to your bookcase...did I do a bad thing momma?” Bonnie felt her heart practically explode with pride. Judy...Jude the Dude...her Little Tryer...had been able to work through the wards and spells on her bookcase at only six years old and  _ had done it to prove a point... _ Bonnie couldn’t have been upset if she tried seeing as how she had done almost the same thing in her youth, though she had just summoned a swarm of mosquitoes in the older litter’s bedroom as a prank.

**“Of course not sweetie, what you did was beyond impressive…”** The voice that sounded like honey whiskey poured through velvet came from behind Judy, but there was only a mirror behind her...right? Seeing her momma’s face fall from the scared but kinda proud smile to one that Judy could only describe as terrified shocked Judy out of her thoughts of impending punishments. 

Momma didn’t get scared...she was Momma, it was just a fact of nature, like daddy always cried at the drop of a carrot but was also Daddy, the rabbit that faced down a wild snake when it was about to make a snack of H-litter, the bunny who shot a wild owl out of the skies and who would stand like a guardian statue, tears and all in order to protect his family. But Judy couldn’t think of any other reason for her Momma to look like that, unless there was something scary behind her…Turning slowly around on the counter Judy looked behind her at the mirror she had drawn on... 

_ ‘Those are big teeth...I don’t have teeth like that…’  _ Indeed Judy did not have large teeth, never mind having an entire mouthful of large and  _ sharp _ teeth. Judy was also pretty sure that she had never smiled that wide in her entire six years of life...and why was her fur all of a sudden red? 

Judy watched as the red furred, sharp toothed, green eyed rabbit in the mirror began to shift...ears shortened and became pointed, the muzzle lengthened and soon enough all the teeth Judy had been marveling at fit within the smile aimed her way. Before she could really process what was happening Judy was looking at the smiling face of a red fox...and proceeded to scream.

“AAHHHHHHH!!!!! I’VE TURNED INTO A FOX! I CAN’T BE A FOX! I DON’T KNOW HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A TAIL THAT FLUFFY!” Neither the fox in the mirror nor Bonnie would ever know it but they had the exact same thoughts at that moment.

_ ‘She is more worried about taking care of her tail than the actual thought of transforming into a fox?!’  _ Giving a small chuckle at the little bun running back and forth before the mirror the fox casually reached out, passing through the mirror, and snagged the scruff of her little pajamas and lifted her up, ignoring how her feet kept moving like she was still running for a couple seconds the fox propped his chin on his un-occupied fist and leaned his elbow on the counter, looking for all the world like leaning half out of a mirror dressed in a snazzy three piece suit was an everyday occurrence for him. 

Bonnie had been worried at first after she saw the symbols and formulas written on the mirror but had held out hope that maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed, that was a pretty delicate type of summoning and anything wrong with it would result in nothing more than a few flashy effects and some phantom winds, now that she saw how successful the ritual had been Bonnie realized things really weren’t as bad as they seemed...they were so much worse. Seeing her little kit get picked up by the fox Bonnie felt her heart not just skip a beat but go on a full vacation. 

Flinging her paws out to her sides and then slamming them together in a resounding clap of thunder above her head before slowly spreading them back to her sides trailing small orbs of sparking and hissing electricity Bonnie readied herself for battle. Realizing the fox holding her kit wasn’t paying her any attention Bonnie felt just a little insulted… _ ’Fine, let’s see you ignore this you eldritch twat.’ _

Sending her spirit deep into the earth, into the very soil she and her husband along with nine litters of her family had worked into prosperity Bonnie soon made contact with the reason they had set up a farm on this previously barren plot of land, with a mental sigh at how much this was going to suck Bonnie plunged her arcane talents into the Ley Line that ran beneath the farm...and with all the delicacy of jamming a fork in a light socket power surged through her.

The strange fox was looking at the little bunny in his grasp with a certain amount of amusement as she hung there from his paw. Bright green eyes like his own, though he knew they would go back to their natural color once their business was concluded...soft fur the color of a moonbeam glinting across a silver dagger...ivory white fur around her eyes like makeup along with the pads of her feet and paws as well as extending from her rapidly bouncing nose down her muzzle and neck, he assumed it went further but wasn’t about to check. The fox was interrupted from gazing at the little bunny when the low sizzling and popping sound of the electric orbs aimed his way suddenly took on a much harsher buzzing scream and the scent of ozone soon permeated the bathroom. Sliding an arrogantly unconcerned gaze over to the rabbit matron the fox raised an eyebrow at what he saw...and then proceeded to smile.

“Well, well, well...Bonnie ‘Le Fey’ Wisteria...I guess you really are in there somewhere underneath all that motherly comfort and married indulgences...having kits made you soft, time was you would have had wards so tight this never would have happened, nevermind taking this long to tap into the ley lines, course time was you would have been tapped in before you even entered the room but I guess I’m not the only one who has mellowed with age.” Judy had no idea what was going on anymore or what the scary fox was talking about, her momma was a Hopps not a Wisteria and what did he mean she would be ‘tapped in’ and would have wards? She may have been the Tryer of the family and may have had aspirations to be the first bunny cop, but she wasn’t stupid...usually...she knew she wouldn’t be getting free of the fox unless he allowed her to, so instead she figured it would be better to stay quiet and just listen, after all Sheerluck Homes once said with enough information the mystery would solve itself. 

“Let her go Inari, she had no intention to call you, this was all just a child’s mistake. Let her go right now and I won’t have to make up a story as to why the entire warren smells like burnt fur...again.” The fox holding Judy just rolled his eyes.

"One lucky shot as barely more than a kit yourself and suddenly you are the defeater of all that is supernatural...relax, the little one is in no danger from me, we simply have some business to discuss and I have a proposition for her to consider." This accomplished quite the opposite of calming down the rabbit mother as the balls of lightning sharpened and elongated into shapes more closely resembling spear heads.

The tension grew within the suddenly small space of the bathroom...air heated and mirrors began to shake again as power from both fox and rabbit built and clashed. This could have gone on for longer had the atmosphere not been broken by what should have been the most obvious source...specifically Judy bunching her legs up to her chest and then with all her might driving her little feet into the side of the fox's head after he shifted her around to get a better look at Bonnie.

It wasn't the hardest kick he had ever taken to the head, but it certainly ranked up there with the most unexpected. Losing his grip on the bunnies pajamas for a second was all the time Bonnie needed to fire off half a dozen bolts of electricity after she saw her kit basically do a standing horizontal leap off the fox's head...she was so going to give her a cookie for that, extra large and gooey.

Recovering quickly the fox god leapt straight out of the mirror, over Judy who after landing on the floor was currently trying to get to her feet, and away from the bolts that smashed into the mirror he had just jumped from along work the surrounding wall. Seeing the mad rabbit mother winding up for another shot Inari tried to move again but found the tiles had frozen solid and ice was beginning to creep up his hind paws.

_ 'That explains that I guess, and here I just thought all bathroom floors were naturally cold'  _ Looking up the fox noticed that the sparkling bolts of electricity were converging into one long bolt of lightning, hissing and crackling with power and giving off waves of heat.

"Does Zeus know you are stealing his little party trick young lady?" Inari asked in the most parentally condescending voice he could muster as he shook a finger at the rabbit who looked not just ready, but _ eager _ to poke him with the zappy stick she now had.

"Who do you think taught me this trick?" Bonnie asked with a rather evil begin on her face as she crouched down and readied herself to leap forward.

"That shifty ferret!" The fox said, with genuine indignation no less, "I am SO going to take his money next poker night…" He finished in a half grumble, he had been trying to learn how to do that trick for years and now this bunny was about to hit him with it…totally unfair.

Thinking quickly the fox was about to summon a weapon of his own when he realized something new...the heat from the lightning bolt had melted the ice that had crawled its way up past his knees...now instead of standing rooted to the spot in ice he was standing in a puddle of water and half melted ice barely up to his ankles.

Seeing this, Inari looked to the side and nearly felt his heart stop...the little bunny that had summoned him was sitting flat on the floor in the puddle that he too was standing in, and her mom was about to hit him with a few thousand volts of electricity. Whipping his head back to the rabbit matron the fox was about to call out a warning before he noticed it was too late, Bonnie was already jumping at him and bringing the Bolt of lightning to bear on him.    
  
Acting quickly Inari allowed his form to evaporate into mist and fog, drastically increasing his speed at the price of being able to interact with the physical world. Flowing around the spear of heated plasma in the mother rabbit’s paws the fox slipped neatly passed her and re-formed just a couple feet from where he had been standing, bending down and scooping up the little bun that had started this fiasco the old fox calmly looked over his shoulder at the rabbit that had just tried to fry his tail. With a final smirk he once again allowed his form to fall apart into mist, taking Judy along for the ride. 


	3. Chapter 3

Bonnie stared in shock at what she just saw...her baby had just been taken from her...one of her kits was taken...on **e of** **her KITS** **_WAS TAKEN FROM HER!_ ** The rage of a mother crossed came hot and fast, filling every thought, burning on every breath, pounding drums of war in time with her heartbeat. Gritting her barred teeth and pouring more power into the bolt of lightning she still clutched in one paw Bonnie was about to take a step towards the mirror that had just acted as a door to the fox that had taken her baby from her. A small whimper from off to the side had her head whipping around to stare at the source, eyes glowing a burning white-blue color form the power coursing through her landing on the small huddle of bunnies still in the room, to scared to move for fear of drawing attention to themselves. 

Feeling the burning rage and fury drain from her like water Bonnie pulled back from the ley line deep in the earth and allowed the power coursing through her to fade. Falling to her knees in the resulting exhaustion of letting go of so much power, especially after years of not practicing such skills Bonnie was slightly shocked to find herself in a puddle of cold water. Shock lanced through her as though she had grabbed the wrong end of the lighting rod...if she had made contact with that last attack the power would have grounded out and possibly arced over to Judy. Looking to where she had seen the kit sitting confirmed her fear, she had been sitting right in front of a floor drain, meaning all the water from the ice she had summoned was flowing right to her and she would have been struck by the lighting just as much as her target. Feeling tears begin to flow from her eyes Bonnie looked back to her scared kits and beckoned them forwards, assuring them everything was okay a couple of times. Soon enough she was once again surrounded by her kits, about a third of the litter had witnessed this little fiasco. Wrapping her arms around as many of them as possible and trying to cuddle them all to her Bonnie couldn’t help but notice the missing kits absence.    
  
_ ‘Did he take her because she was in danger, or because of some other reason...and what did he mean by a proposition for her?’  _ She had questions to answer and work to do...later, right now she had a lot of scared bunnies that need comforting. Gathering as many as she could in her arms Bonnie slowly got to her feet and began to walk them all back to the entertainment room. Taking the opportunity to speak with them all in relative privacy Bonnie convinced them all to stay quiet about what they saw that night. Walking into the entertainment room Bonnie wasn’t at all surprised to find the rest of the litter cuddled up in a big pile in a blanket fort and beanbag nest fast asleep. Depositing her armload amongst the pile and helping the last few to climb in Bonnie couldn’t help but count all the bunnies she could see...three times, just to be sure she was only missing the one. 

Feeling the anger begin to slide back into her at the thought of one of her babies being taken from her gave her the strength to stand up tall despite the new ache in her back and shoulders, yes she may have gotten older and may have gotten soft...but she was still Bonnie ‘Le Fey’ Wisteria at heart, she was still the greatest rabbit enchantress her family had ever produced and if that fox thought he was going to lose her along the paths back to his domain he had another thing coming to him, she used to walk the ancient paths just so she could get a midnight snack without getting caught, the old shortcuts through the worlds didn’t scare her. More importantly though from who she used to be... now she was Bonnie  _ Hopps _ , she was a wife and she was a mother...she was that missing kits  **Momma** and she would see the stars burn cold before she simply gave her kit up for lost. Striding purposefully back to her room she was in no way surprised to find her husband awake and waiting for her.   
  
“Judy is beyond my sight, what happened?” Stuart Hopps asked his wife as he turned softly glowing yellow eyes her way. Bonnie loved those eyes, it was one of the first things that had attracted her to him after all...glowing like sunflower petals in a warm candlelight Stu could see all the way to the edge of the lands they claimed. Tied as he was to the land, he could never leave it for long, but in return the land shared an uncanny amount of knowledge with him...where best to plant certain crops and when to water or harvest...locations of natural springs or even a vein of precious metal they sometimes dipped into when they felt like indulging a bit...and more importantly he could view his entire family no matter where they were on their lands...it was totally unfair when the young ones challenged him to a game of hide and seek.

“She summoned an Elder, I awoke to the feeling of the ether parting and an unfamiliar power on the air.” Bonnie strode over to the closet and with an almost negligent wave of her hand the simple wooden door twisted and contorted until it was a slab of wrought iron hanging on solid silver hinges and held together by a silver chain. A solid block of salt pulled from the heart of their lands was molded around the ends of the silver chain keeping it locked around the handles of the iron doors. 

“B-Bon! What are you doing!? Come on now you promised that life was behind you, I understand going to get our baby girl but please...there has to be a different way to do it, you know what dipping into that life does to you, I don’t want to lose you to a past you worked so hard to put behind you.” Bonnie felt the ever burning torch of love she felt for her husband roar ever brighter, Gaia but she loved that rabbit. Unable to stop herself Bonnie just laughed lightly as she rummaged through drawers and chests she hadn’t opened in well over a decade and a half. Poking her head out to see her husband standing there in the middle of their bedroom wringing his paws, eyes no longer glowing and instead returned to their sinfully dark chocolate brown, Bonnie felt a familiar stirring...they were only on J-litter after all....later.

Reaching out and grasping her husband by his cheek fur Bonnie pulled her husband in for a searing hot kiss and did her best to pour every ounce of love she felt for him into it. Feeling his ears snap straight up in surprise and then his arms wind around her back as he reciprocated her feelings half again over Bonnie pulled back enough to look him in the eyes.

“My love, sweet rain of my summer, bright sun to my dark earth… I am not a Wisteria anymore, if I am going to go after our daughter it is going to be as who I am, it is going to be as a  Hopps . I am a Hopps now and forever until the land grows fallow and abandons us shall I be your wife…” Remembering the vows they had spoken to each other so many years ago on their wedding day Stu continued on for her.

“Until the rains dry from the earth and the sun scorches the land barren shall I be your husband.” Feeling Stu’s love wrap around her like a warm breeze Bonnie allowed herself to enjoy it for a few heartbeats before she pulled the feeling closer and clad her mind and heart in a suit of armor forged in the fires of her marriage and hardened by her years of motherhood. Looking deep into Stu’s eyes once more she let a little of who she used to be leak through and spoke in a tone of dark promises and impending chaos.

“I am going to go and get our daughter back hun, I am going to show all the worlds that while Le Fey may be gone, she has been replaced by someone much more dangerous when crossed...she has been replaced by a Mother Hopps on a mission to protect her family. I need you to protect what we have built my Weeping Guardian…” Stu’s body went rigid around her at these words, tears beginning to fall from his eyes as muscles that long lay dormant beneath a layer of good cooking and years of peaceful farm life began to flex and reawaken. “Burn those eyes bright as my love for you and gold as the sun that has blessed these lands, these many years, show the world kindness is not weakness and peace is only bought through those willing to go to war.” With every word that fell from the lips he had kissed countless times Stuart Hopps’s heart beat stronger and with a more power. 

Eyes burning brighter than she had ever seen them, like miniature stars, Stu allowed his arms to release his wife, the holder of his soul and mother of his children. With eyes casting the most pure golden glow she had ever seen Bonnie watched as the rabbit she had bound her life and future to gave a familiar smile...a smile of justified arrogance and youthful recklessness...a smile she had not seen since they were dating and he had been trying to impress her. 

Giving the ground of their bedroom a good few thumps with his foot Stu held his arms out to his sides for a second before turning his paws upwards. Looking as if he was lifting a great weight he slowly lifted his arms to the ceiling, Bonnie felt as much as heard the sound of earth shifting. She didn’t have to look outside to know great boulders larger than some houses were rising from the earth at the edge of their property. Carefully tended and cultivated bushes all over their lands were suddenly bursting with rampant growth; vines and branches reaching to the sky in a twisted mockery of their master, twisting and weaving until every few hundred feet a rabbit warrior made of thorny branches and supple vines stood ready for battle. Obsidian from ancient eruptions remembered only by Gaia herself rose to the surface and lay glittering maliciously in the moonlight, razor sharp points and edges eager to slice into soft paws of any and all uninvited intruders. Blades of grass sharpened into actual blades, sinkholes rose to just beneath the surface ready and eager to swallow any enemies, trees swayed and creaked in warning...the land had finally found one who could hear it and enjoyed the feeling of little bunny feet running all over it, the land was not about to let harm come to it caretakers.

Bonnie watched through the sight gifted by her talents as root and rock, stem and stream bent to the will and desire of her husband...watched as the Fist of Gaia closed his paw in defense around the family she had helped build. Giving one last lovingly heated look to the light that had pulled her from her blackened past, Bonnie turned back to the closet doors. Speaking a series of words that refused to be heard or understood by anyone but the female rabbit speaking them, sigils and runes carved themselves into the wood around the doors. With a sound not unlike a clogged drain clearing the doors that were supposed to only open out...fell inward and instead of a walk in closet Bonnie found herself looking out upon a winter wonderland of snow covered trees and ice capped mountains. 

Wondering for a second if she had mispronounced a syllable or gotten a word mixed up Bonnie was just about to try again when she heard a familiar voice...a very familiar voice echoing in a scream from the mountains and trees on the other side of the doorway. With adrenaline surging and a heating charm on her lips Bonnie dashed forward and leapt across the threshold into a different reality with only one thought in her mind as she fell the few feet difference between the floor of her bedroom and the snow-covered slope.

_ ‘Hold on little bun, Momma is coming...and Mommy is  _ **_pissed’_ **


	4. Chapter 4

Landing on a snow-covered mountainside in a modified version of her former adventuring gear was not how Bonnie wanted to spend her night. Cuddled up to her husband in a warm bed with a bunch of heavy blankets and the AC cranked up to high was how she wanted to wake up, because that was how she had fallen asleep...trying to find her lost kit on what looked like either the foothill of a small mountain or the side of a large hill in double layer reinforced cargo pants, matching jacket and light blouse was not what she considered a good time. Looking around and trying to figure out where she was Bonnie noticed a few things that helped her get an idea of where she had landed. 

Snow covered everything so it was probably in the Winter lands… the sun was at high noon and the temperature was still cold enough to produce snow so she was probably pretty deep into winter territory. Judging by the slope she was on...wait a minute, this looked oddly familiar…

“Oh you are rutting kidding me…” A sentence that would get any one of her kits a mouthful of soap and a red backside seemed oddly appropriate as she looked closer to the landscape… she had been here before, back when she was still learning the paths, she came here to go-

  
“hhhhHHHIII MMMOOOOMMmmmyyyyyy!” Sledding...kind of like how that little bunny was that went screaming by just then...wait did she say mommy?

“JUDY!” Whipping her paws in a complicated pattern around herself and muttering a few words of power under her breath Bonnie pulled the snow in around her feet, melting and freezing until she had a disc of ice a good inch thick and at least three feet across. Picking up the disk Bonnie took a deep breath to steady herself and took a few awkward steps forward before jumping and placing the disk beneath her. It was with a feeling of freedom and energy she had not felt in many years that Bonnie began to pick up speed, old memories of how to steer and avoid obstacles surfacing from the depths of her mind like sleepy giants. 

Dip a paw into the snow on this side to steer one way, lean a little over that way to skip over a snow well around the base of a tree, drag her feet to remain pointed in the right direction...yeah she could do this. Zipping around trees and flying over small bumps that she could almost swear were ramps Bonnie eventually saw through the trees enough to notice a small clearing straight ahead with what looked like a couple of figures sitting around a fire. Narrowing her eyes Bonnie lowered herself just a little more to make sure she got as much speed as possible. 

* * *

Judy was having a pretty darn good birthday all things considered, sure she may have let Jasmine get under her skin but ultimately it lead her to being carried off by a magical fox, taken sledding and now she was getting to make s’mores...so in the end everything worked out pretty well from that book and the silly squiggles. Just as she was about to take another bite of her wonderfully gooey marshmallow treat she heard a sound... like some kind of hissing just before something raced behind her causing a chilly breeze. Looking around quickly in confusion Judy felt her eyes widen and ears drop down her back in amazement...her momma was here...like RIGHT there, dressed in an outfit she had never seen and it looked like she was holding a spear of ice and a shield of fire...she looked pretty cool as far as Judy was concerned. 

* * *

“MOMMA!” The sound of her baby girls voice was almost enough for Bonnie to start crying in relief, knowing they weren’t safe yet though she just allowed her eyes to water slightly as she took in the strange scene before her. She could see her wayward bunny sitting on a log, glancing to the other side of the fire she noticed the fox as well and was about to launch the spear in her paw before a few other bits of information filtered through to her.

Her Little Tryer had been taken while wearing a police uniform onesie...and was now wearing a somewhat large and poofy jacket with matching pants along with a beanie over her ears. The fox on the other side of the fire was similarly dressed in a flannel lumberjack coat and windbreaker pants and was currently holding a s’more in one paw and was blowing frantically on a steaming cup of something in his other paw. The bits of marshmallow and chocolate stuck to the whiskers of both bunny and fox along with various candy bar wrappers piled up near the fire indicated they had been munching on fire roasted sweets for a while now. Just as Bonnie was about to say something, whether about the weirdness of the scene before her or about her kit being taken she wasn’t sure, a small voice off to the side called out.

“PAPA I’M BACK AND I GOT MORE CRACKERS FOR THE S'MORES, AND LOOK JUDY I GOT EVEN GOT MORE STICKS FOR THE FIRE SO WE DON’T GET COLD!” Looking over to the source of the voice Bonnie wasn’t sure what she was looking at, at first. It looked like a pile of sticks running along on legs of cracker sleeves...oh wait...no it was a little fox carrying a pile of sticks taller than its head and had a cracker sleeve swinging from between a couple fingers on each paw. Running past Bonnie the little fox happily dropped the pile of sticks next to Judy then proceeded to sit down next to the little bunny. Without a word, and to Bonnie’s mixture of confusion and pride at raising such a nice kit, Judy handed the little fox a freshly made s’more...and then to Bonnie’s increased confusion and mild parental outrage the little fox kissed Judy on the cheek like they were long betrothed friends. The last hour and change had been enough of an emotional roller-coaster propelled by a rocket blast from the past that Bonnie could feel her concentration on her spear and shield slipping until she let them go entirely. 

Without a word she let her shoulders slump, spear and shield fade and walked over to the log currently only occupied by an ancient god of fertility, rice, tea, sake, agriculture and industry...a creature that had seen the rise and fall of more civilizations than litters she had given birth to, a being that existed outside of her reality and timeline and who could probably remember a time when her species moved exclusively on all fours and were hunted for food by his own species...and who was now sulkily munching on an icicle because he burned his tongue on what she could now smell was hot sake. Plopping down on the log next to the fox god with all the gracelessness of her youth Bonnie reached over to the now only slightly steaming cup of sake and plucked it from the fox’s paw. With a small wince at the temperature and taste Bonnie downed a small mouthful of the potent rice wine, smiling slightly at the familiar warmth seeping into her limbs and the delightful aftertaste dancing over her tongue.

“So...you want to start explaining or should I just start asking questions, to start with: why is there a fox kit kissing my daughter?” The edge at the end of the question was as sharp as any blade forged in the kitsune’s youth and the tone of voice may have started normal but had dipped at the end until it was so cold it could freeze his sake... _ had _ frozen his sake he realized as he tried to take a sip. With a sigh at the rabbits actions Inari poured some of the still hot sake from his thermos into the frozen cup and proceeded to take his own sip.

“The world is changing Bonnie, has changed...The others and I have decided that the world and those that walk upon it no longer need our guidance or wisdom.” Bonnie glanced over the edge of the cup when it was handed back to her, this was not what she was expecting. “We are tired...so, damnably tired...do you have any idea how long I have been alive, and I am not even the oldest amongst the Elders, but I can feel the weight of the centuries... the millennia of memories I have watched pass on your planet. I am a father as you can see, my teachings from the good old days have been spread and re-worked over the centuries, I am no longer directly needed and neither are many of the others. It has been decided that we, the old guard as it were, are going to go on vacation for a bit.”    
  


Bonnie nearly choked on the s’more she was eating at that declaration, the old gods...were going on vacation? Where the cabbage rot did they even go for vacation? Looking over at the god of foxes Bonnie made sure to look closely at what she saw...and was surprised at what she saw. Silver grey hairs speckled the fur along the fox’s muzzle, wrinkles distorted the fur around his eyes slightly, the eyes that had once seemed so lively and mischievous were instead hooded by years and responsibility beyond one’s self...that was a look she had started seeing in herself after her first litter. It hit her like a ton of carrots, the fox looked  _ old _ ...or more accurately had always looked old and she was just now realizing what she was seeing.

“Oh don’t look at me like that you little whipper snapper, I am still spry enough to bend you over my knee...again.” This statement was said with a certain amount of smugness and a sly glance to his side at the now slightly blushing bunny mom. 

  
“That was one time and it was an honest mistake...so you and all the others are abandoning the world after all this time then? What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?...and you said you are a dad now? When did that happen?” It was only with memories of her own kits nearly burying her in rapid fire questions that Bonnie was able to stop herself from firing off a dozen more.    
  
“You were trying to steal an artifact from the wrong deity three planes over in the wrong direction and two levels of reality up from your target, pretty big mistake if you ask me...and no we aren’t  _ abandoning  _ the world as you so dramatically put it, most of us have children of our own and those of us that can or want to, will leave the world in their paws.” Inari stopped to take a sip of the sake while looking over at the two young kits happily chattering away and roasting marshmallows, completely unconcerned with any of the problems of the world. “As for what we are going to do and where we are going to go, well, I have always wanted to spend a couple centuries in Pawaii and Karma-chan has been hinting that she is interested in learning more about fine dining so I figured a tour of Ewerope is in order.” This seemed like such a simple and mundane plan of action for beings the likes of which had helped shape basically all of history that Bonnie would have laughed, if she hadn’t been hit by a revelation that should have stood out more to her than it had.

Looking over to the little fox kit that was apparently telling a very exciting story judging by the paw waving and the look on her daughter’s face,  _ ‘she is too young to be looking at a boy like that darn it, I just got her and if this little bottlebrush thinks he is going to take her from me that easily then he has another thing coming’,  _ Bonnie started to connect dots that should have been obvious from the start. The same shade of red for the fur, the same glowing green eyes when the fire hit them just right...the facial structure was a little different, softer and not as elongated as his father’s muzzle, but the facial expressions, especially the smile, were all his father’s doing. Looking back to the old fox next to her Bonnie could only sip some more sake, a fairly big sip of sake later had Bonnie beginning to voice out loud a few thoughts.

  
“That is your kit over there entertaining my daughter isn’t it?” It wasn’t a question.

“Yep, Karma-chan and I finally decided a few years ago we were ready to try for a little one, figured a thousand years living together successfully was probably enough to work out the kinks of a new relationship.”

“So that is the kit of Karma of the Balanced Scales and Inari Okami over there with bits of s’mores smeared around his muzzle making  _ my daughter _ laugh and look at him like a rock star...the  _ male  _ kit of two old acquaintances that is apparently as old as one of my youngest girls, who is comfortable enough with  **_my daughter_ ** to not only want to provide food and warmth for her but also to  _ kiss her  _ when she shows her appreciation by making a tasty snack, is that about right?” 

“Well when you put it that way…”  _ ‘Uh oh…’  _

He knew that tone of voice and line of questions...Slowly looking over at the mother rabbit out of the corner of his eye Inari noticed an obvious glaze to her eyes, her nose turning just a bit too red for the cold to be entirely responsible and one ear beginning to droop about halfway up its length.

You see the problem with having a memory that stretched back thousands of years was that sometimes you forget the small things, who owes you a bit of petty cash, who won the argument about what and when...how much of a lightweight certain bunnies can be or how much mothers of any species can blow something out of proportion when it comes to their offspring. Taking a long, slow sip from his cup Inari reminded himself he was an ancient god of foxes, his kind had hunted hers for eons and he had known her when she was just a little bunny who liked to talk big whether she could back it up or not. Yes... she was simply a mortal rabbit and he was an, until proven otherwise, immortal fox...with that mental reassurance he finished his sip and gave himself a firm nod...before tactically advancing at great speed in a safe direction away from the momma bunny.

“OH NO YOU DON’T YOU GREEN EYED SCOUNDREL, YOU GET BACK HERE AND ANSWER FOR YOUR CRIMES!” Bonnie may not have been a snowshoe hare like one of her sister’s wife but she could still move through the snow with speed to be envious of.   
  
“So what do you want to be when you grow up?” This question was posed by the little fox sitting next to his new mostest bestest friend.

“I am going to be a police officer! Not only that but I am going to be the very first bunny police officer!” Judy proclaimed proudly over the sounds of trees being toppled around them as she brandished her flaming marshmallow like a sword.

  
“WHAT CRIMES! I WAS JUST FOLLOWING RITUAL LAW! I COULDN’T LEAVE WITHOUT MAKING A DEAL AND I HAD TO TAKE HER WITH ME SINCE YOU WERE ABOUT TO TURN HER INTO A BUNNY NIGHTLIGHT!” 

“Wow, that sounds so cool” The little fox said in a low breathless voice “I bet you are gonna break some kind of record or something just by doing that, nevermind how many bad guys I bet you are gonna put in jail.” Judy would in fact go on to break several records, many before she even made it through the police academy.

“YOU KNEW SHE WAS A KIT AND YOU ANSWERED THE CALL ANYWAY AND THEN YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO TRY AND MAKE A DEAL WITHOUT A PARENTAL FIGURE PRESENT! POP-POP SAYS FOXES ARE RED BECAUSE THEY WERE MADE BY THE DEVIL, LET’S SEE IF THAT MAKES YOU FIRE PROOF!”

“You really think I can do it? You don’t think a dumb little bunny trying to be a police officer is kinda stupid?” Judy was glad her ears were pinned down her back by the beanie since it hid her blush...hey she was six, not totally ignorant about boys…

“HOT HOT HOT WE WERE NOT MADE BY ANY DEVIL AND WE ARE NOT FIRE-PROOF YOU LUNATIC RABBIT! THEY ARE JUST KITS, YOU SHOULD CONSIDER IT PROOF OF GOOD PARENTING THAT YOUR DAUGHTER IS SO POLITE *BOOOM ZZZZZAAAPCRACK* OK YOU NEED TO CHILL OUT!” 

“Of course you can do it...why wouldn’t you be able to?” The little fox asked as he tilted his head to one side, a single ear standing upright while the other fell to the side slightly...completely ignoring the avalanche his dad just threw at Bonnie in response to nearly singing his tail.

“Well I mean, uh it’s just...I’m a bunny, there has never been a bunny officer and I’m so small and so many bad guys are so big...and so many others say I should just stay on the farm and grow carrots…” Judy almost never stuttered or had a hard time speaking, especially about being a police officer...she would have to ask her momma about that... after she asked about why the boy in front of her was so cute. Looking over at where she had last heard her momma she noticed she was busy, it made Judy happy to know that even when she was her momma’s age it was ok to have snowball fights.

“SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT” This simple and oddly satisfying mantra was pretty much all Inari could say as he dodged, ducked, dived, dipped and dodged around the blizzard of solid ice balls Bonnie was firing at him in rapid succession with all the speed of a major league baseball gatling gun. 

“Well duh there has never been a bunny cop before, how are you supposed to be the first one if there has already been one?” This little bit of kittish logic made absolute sense to Judy and she was surprised she had never thought of it that way. “And besides Sheerluck Homes is WAY smaller than you and he still solves mysteries and fights crime.” 

“I GUESS THE OLD SAYING OF LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER APPLIES ESPECIALLY TO YOU DOESN’T IT LITTLE MISS I-TURNED-MY-FIRST-EX-BOYFRIEND-INTO-A-LIZARD! HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO LEARN THE SPELL TO REVERSE THAT AND WIPE THE MEMORIES AGAIN?! OH RIGHT YOU HAD TO CALL ME TO DO IT!” Any response Bonnie had been planning on making was abruptly cut off as Inari spun in place and Bonnie found herself wrapped tightly in his tail as it elongated to extreme lengths, and it wasn’t like he was waiting for her to make a comment about lengths and compensating for something...but the second Bonnie opened her mouth she found herself being whipped through the air and right into a snowbank, only to be pulled out and hurled into another mound of softly solid snow...and then another...

“You’ve read Sheerluck Homes?! OH what was your favorite book? Have you heard about when the next one is coming out?” The answer to this question would have to come at a later date as just at that moment the two adults slowly trudged back into the circle of warmth the fire cast and almost in unison both fox and bunny fell back onto the log they had been sitting on earlier. 

Neither would say anything for many minutes before the fox dad picked up the cup and poured out a small amount before handing it to the bunny mom, giving each other a clink and a salute with their respective containers they both sipped at the wonderful sake. As Judy and her new friend watched their parents for a bit they soon enough looked at each other in unison and then both shrugged at the same time...adults were weird. 

“So...Judy you say...Would it be rude to...assume you are...on J-litter?” Inari asked as he slowly got his breathing back under control. It was with barely an effort that he was able to change the sake from Bonnie’s cup into a special type of sweet green tea. Ignoring the dark look sent his way from the rabbit and figuring he would be smug about the look of delighted surprise that followed her first taste of the tea later he simply waited for her answer. 

“Yes, J-litter...turned six today...last night? a few hours before you showed up. Judy is by far one of the most interesting ones though...until her, the most ambitious of my kits was one who wanted to be a deep sea explorer because that was probably where all the pirate gold would be found.” Giving a chuckle at the youthful ambition of her kits Bonnie took another sip of her tea, raising an eyebrow at how it seemed to refill itself once she lowered it.

“So you finally found a male who could keep up with you? I guess I lost that bet...does he make you happy?” 

“Ha...Stu could never ‘keep up’ with me, but he didn’t have to...he was simply always there. The tortoise to my hare in a way, I was always zipping around and he was always moving forward slow but steady. Always there at my side, ready with a hug and an encouraging word. He never kept up with me because I always found myself going back to him, until I decided to stop leaving him in the first place. Before I knew it there were wedding bells and baby baskets and up until recently I was about as happy as I figured it possible to be.” 

“Until recently? What happened to make you unhappy?”

“A fox stole one of my kits after she foolishly summoned him in order to win some kind of social standing among her litter.” The look Bonnie slid his way was sharp enough to trim the tips off a couple of his whiskers.

  
  


“Ouch, noted but ouch...besides what did you want me to do, you know as well as anyone we can’t deny a summoning no matter who they are or why. If it makes you feel better at first I was planning on just giving them all a good scare and using that to have them send me away...but then I felt her thoughts through the summoning...she wasn’t trying to prove anything or win any bets, oh sure those thoughts were in the background, but they were only there as the motivation that got her that far. When she was drawing the sigils, she was thinking about how amazing it would be if it worked, when she spoke the words it was with thoughts of what she could do with these powers if it turned out to be real...she was trying to summon a deity at six years old and thinking about how much crime she could prevent or mysteries she could solve with supernatural help, and not because it would make her popular or desirable but because it would mean she would be helping others. Bonnie your daughter is a very focused little bunny and has the potential to rival or even eclipse your own.” Bonnie just sipped her tea as she considered the fox’s words.

“So...what now?...I can’t promise Karma won’t be a widow if you tell me you made a deal with her while I wasn’t here, but if you haven’t then I imagine we will be seeing you again. I am trying to leave this chapter of my life behind in the hopes that none of my kits make the same mistakes I did...I have a damn good life right now and I would prefer to keep it as detached from the past as possible. So how do I get you out of my life and more importantly out of my daughter’s life and future as cleanly as possible?” It may have sounded a bit callous but Bonnie was tired from not getting a good night's sleep, worry for her kit, using powers she had not used in years and jumping around slinging spells and charms like a possessed flea on a hot skillet...she was no spring chicken and that fact was making itself known in aches she didn’t remember having the day before. Hearing the fox give a slight chuckle next to her made Bonnie give further consideration to how she could make him have an…”accident”...

“You don’t have to worry, other than some sledding and a snowball fight, which I totally won by the way no matter what the two little hellions say, nothing has happened in the short time since she came here. Honestly I was going to bring her back a while ago but Karma-chan had to take care of something and I was left to look after Nick, well the two of them met and it was all downhill from there, Nicky wanted to show her the best sledding spots and she wanted to show him “the proper way to make a perfect s’more” and after a while it just sort of turned into a play date. I actually expected you a while ago, getting slow in your middle age?” Bonnie considered pouring the ever refilling cup of tea in his lap just for the age comment...but she had something much more satisfying in mind.

“No actually, I had to tell my husband what had happened and make sure the farm was protected and all my other kits were accounted for since apparently now I need to worry about foxes infiltrating my home...turns out it takes a bit of time to count nearly 375+ kits and to explain that someone came in and took a Weeping Guardian's charge.” Ok so maybe she hadn’t taken the time to count ALL of her children...but the widening of Inari’s eyes as she mentioned her husband’s status made what she hoped would come just that much sweeter.

“A Weeping Guardian you say? Color me impressed to have locked one of them down...tell me which one caught your paw in the knot?” Bonnie just knew he was going to ask that, which is why she waited until he was mid sip of his sake before answering in the most casual tone she could manage.   
  
“Stuart Hopps, Fist of Gaia.” Oh yes...watching the old fox’s eyes snap open in sudden recognition of the name and title followed quickly by the stream of sake spat out onto the fire, nearly burning a few whiskers off, was as satisfying as she had imagined it would be.

“Fist of Gaia!? You went and married a Land Speaker? Well no fricken wonder the little bun is strong with that level of pedigree…” Glancing over at the two younglings Inari began to consider a few possibilities, right until he felt the side of head begin to heat up under the glare sent his way by the momma rabbit.

“Yes, I married  **_THE_ ** Land Speaker and yes we had a few litters. There have been others before Judy that had the potential to walk my path or follow in their father’s footsteps but none until now have actually taken that first step and like I said, I am trying to cut my past off as cleanly as possible.” Looking over at her wayward kit Bonnie nearly cooed at the sight before she was able to get a hold of herself. 

Judy and the now named Nick had fallen asleep next to each other, but Judy had slumped over to lay in the little fox’s lap while cuddling his tail close like her favorite plushy and the fox in question had then curled up around the little bun until she was nearly hidden under his tail and jacket-turned-blanket. Seeing the little fox muzzle poking between her daughter’s ears with his chin resting on top of her head was almost enough to make Bonnie wish she had brought a camera with her. About to use a nifty little charm she had invented to summon small marked items to her (she never had to worry about losing her keys again) and summon her camera to her Bonnie suddenly remembered how closely foxes guarded their tails and what it usually meant for one to let another mammal touch it. 

Sliding another glare towards the elderly fox next to her the rabbit mom felt the drink in her hand begin to boil at the sight of his impassive face. She knew well enough that he was only ever impassive when he was repressing a truly massive smug smile, the bastard had hoped for something like this.    
  
“Well it looks like our kits have become pretty fast friends Bonnie, it would be a real shame if they didn’t get to meet up and play anymore after this don’t you think? Maybe a few future play dates are in order.” The tone of voice was conversationally parental...but Bonnie knew damn well he was using this as a way to keep her from completely abandoning her past, she just didn’t know why.

“Why are you doing this Inari? You didn’t have to run like you did in the bathroom, you could have easily dealt with the situation right then and there. If you had wanted it you could have made it impossible for me to even enter the room but you let me in, you left a trail through the planes that was kits play for me to follow because you wanted me here. You didn’t have to introduce our kits to each other but you did and now you are trying to have a reason to meet up again in the future...why?” Bonnie was often referred to as a Spear in her youth, some other mammals were daggers that slid past defenses and struck out with deadly precise strikes...others were broadswords that could cut to the point and purpose with broad sweeps and little finesse...Bonnie was a spear, capable of pointed strikes sure, but at the end of the day just a long stick with a pointy bit at the end...not exactly a complicated or delicate individual. 

“Like I said, we are getting old, we are tired and it is time for a new generation to take up the old mantles. In case you haven’t realized it yet, your daughter is strong, she is powerful...if she is anything like her mother she will be a force to be reckoned with. There is something coming Bon...something is going to happen, all of us can feel it but none of us can agree on when, where, what, how or why...we are too set in our ways and memories of the past, we need to bow out with grace and dignity while we can and let the next generation take over.” The look on the old fox’s face told Bonnie he was telling at least part of the truth, inwardly she cursed the games and machinations of the old gods...when you had the time to plan and maneuver centuries in advance, it seemed as though telling half truths came so naturally it was nearly impossible to get a straight answer out of any of them.

Bonnie stood up and walked over to her lost kit, the little dear was positively wrapped around the fox kit’s tail and very firmly snuggled into his arms… _ ’Screw it, when do I get a chance like this?’  _ mentally pulling on the charm that she had attached to her camera Bonnie snapped off a series of pictures. Pocketing the device she turned around and mentally channeled an aspect of her past that she had never really been able to get rid of, nor had she really wanted to get rid of if she was totally honest with herself. Inari perked up at the change in the matronly rabbit, something was different but he couldn’t place it. Walking over to the fox Bonnie leaned forward until she was nose to nose with the fox god. 

_ ‘Why do I feel like I know this feeling?...oh damnit all…’  _ It wasn’t until he had really looked into the rabbits eyes that he remembered this feeling. 

“ Listen and listen well Fox, I may be decades out of practice but I still have favors to call upon, I may not have cast a hex at someone in anger for longer than my oldest litter but it is like riding a bike, you never really forget how. My husband, sun of my summer skies, may be the embodiment of honey and hearthfire normally...but he is the Fist of Gaia, he is The Land Speaker..when his children are threatened or endangered he can and WILL move mountains to protect them".  Inari leaned back slightly, not liking the familiar look of madness in the rabbit’s eyes, he hadn’t seen that twitch in her eyelid since that time she found out Ganesh targeted her for a panty raid...good times…

  
“My husband may be tied to the land of our claim, but I am not. I may be a Hopps now but I am still Bonnie Le Fey Wisteria at heart, Walker of the Paths and Friend to Fey Royalty...if I find out your son so much as THINKS of my daughter in an inappropriate manner I will make sure the consequences are so legendary they reach back in time and strike you down in your prime creating a paradox that destroys all of creation...Am. I. Clear?”  It was not a question…’ _ hold on’ _ .

“That was all because of my son? I thought it was because the two of them may, OR MAY NOT, be involved in events that could lead to the destruction or salvation of your world...you know, old guard leaving and letting the young bloods take over...possible Big Bad coming? Any of this ringing a bell, it was like thirty seconds ago I mentioned it.” Bonnie straightened and looked down her short muzzle at the fox, it was not something he was used to and he decided he really didn’t like it.

“Saving the world is one thing, MY DAUGHTER is another entirely...I expect at least three days advance notice and a detailed itinerary as well as a full background check on who will be chaperoning their activities,  _ besides you _ , for any play dates in the future.” With that said she turned on a heel with her paws clasped behind her back and began to walk away leaving a somewhat dumbfounded fox behind her. “Oh and she has chores she needs to get done tomorrow so I expect her back in time for breakfast or shortly thereafter, with a full tummy obviously.” Before any response could be made the most powerful PathFinder in recent memories began to rip a hole between the worlds. 

Inari watched as the comfortably plump rabbit mom walked away, speechless more at the audacity and arrogance displayed than the actual demands. Seeing the space before her warp and begin to gain angles where there shouldn’t be any until finally it tore open, Inari decided Le Fey hadn’t lost as much of her youthful fire as he had been afraid she had, and she hadn’t made as clean a cut from her past she had hoped. Looking over the rabbit’s shoulder though made the fox god repress an involuntary shudder...bright, searing golden eyes locked directly onto his and for the instant before the rip closed he could feel not only the weight of Gaia’s gaze upon him, but that of a Poppa protecting his family and Inari couldn’t honestly tell which he was more cautious of.

Looking down at the little ball of fluff that was his son and the daughter of his one time protege/partner in crime/ scapegoat/ total pain in the tail... Inari couldn’t help the smirk from sliding across his muzzle. It had been a long time since someone had talked to him like that and he found that he rather missed it, finally someone wasn’t terrified of him or fishing for his favor...he suddenly remembered hearing that the worst curses in history often spawned from the best intentions. Chuckling quietly to himself as he made himself comfortable on the log once more and as he began to plan his next move the old fox god took another sip of his favored drink and looked over to the little bunny kit cuddled up to his own offspring and smiled...not an entirely kind smile either. 

  
“May your children be just like you...Bonnie...Le Fey...Hopps…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so if you were able to follow through all that...well, seek mental help first off but after that feel free to give a review. Helpful critiques will be considered and probably followed, cowardly anonymous flames will be mocked and otherwise ignored and regular flames will probably still be mocked but will also still be considered...again Disney can fuck off I don't own Zootopia.

**Author's Note:**

> Well there it is, the first chapter down. I don't own Zootopia or benefit from this in anyway and Disney can take their copyright notices and legal bullshit and fuck off with it...greedy cunts I hope they choke on their lawyers money coated dicks...


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